Seven million acres of bee habitat will be restored over the next five years in an effort by the federal government to reverse the decline of the United States’ honeybee population. The matter is urgent: beekeepers lost more than 40 percent of their colonies in 2014 according to a federal report. The plan also calls for investing more money in research. But some environmentalists say bolder action is needed, including restrictions on pesticides that studies have linked to honeybee colony collapse disorder. We’ll discuss President Obama’s plan as well as the impact the drought is having on the state’s bees.

Professor Claire Kremen discusses Ailing Honeybees and the Nation’s Food Supply on “To The Point,” Warren Olney’s show on NPR.

May 29, 2015 — Where have all the honeybees gone? A sudden spike in the death of honeybees across the nation is alarming beekeepers, farmers and environmentalists, but they can’t agree what’s causing it.

Professor Claire Kremen and Leithen M’Gonigle’s new article, “Small-scale restoration in intensive agricultural landscapes supports more specialized and less mobile pollinator species,” featured in the Journal of Applied Ecology. See the Editor’s Choice article here.